15 Pentecost/Year C – Sept 21, 2025
Track 2 Scriptures: Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113; (1 Timothy 2:1-7); Luke 16:1-13
Rev Julie Platson
Opening Prayer: (Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion)
Faithful God, we give you thanks that in Jesus Christ you have entrusted us with the richness of your glory and the treasure of your grace. Make us faithful stewards of your good gifts, that we may show your love to this generation and welcome us into your eternal home, where we will worship and serve you forever; through Christ our Savior. Amen.
Jesus’ parables often cause us to look down and shake our heads, wiggle around in our seats, and make us feel a bit uncomfortable… Yet, as we practice learning to sit with the uneasiness of what we are hearing in the scriptures at times, his message can become a point of reorienting our lives in such a way, that helps us to see the goodness and value in being good stewards of all God’s gifts entrusted to us…
Today’s gospel is probably one of those notable ones that makes us a bit uncomfortable, because it talks about money, and dishonesty, and shrewdness…it closes with a sentence that calls us to a moment of judgment… that requires us to pause for a time of soul searching, when Jesus says: You cannot serve God and wealth.
Money, our wealth, as we walk through this earthy life together, is one of those gifts we are called to steward wisely. Are we using our wealth and our monies to serve God’s people, especially the most vulnerable among us? Are we using it in ways that lead to healing and better lives for all God’s people now, and for the future generations, long after we are gone?
Or are we using it in ways that lead to further oppression of the poorest of the poor? Are we using it in ways that lead to the destruction of our natural resources that are God-given gifts meant to equally and mutually nourish, protect, provide, sustain all life…all God’s people…all of creation…
We are faced with small choices and big choices every day…that require us to choose…
Will we choose to base our daily decisions about money and other matters through the lens of God’s heart by strengthening our relationship with God and one another through communal prayer, striving to listen to one another to understand the needs of our neighbors, and to seek and serve Christ, by loving our neighbors, as ourselves?
Or will we choose to base our daily decisions through the lens of our personal wealth and desires first…just for ourselves, with no regard to the implications on the lives of those we share this earthly life with?
We are faced with many hard decisions every day…not always about money…but as we begin and end our days with prayer, we are choosing God first, choosing to serve God in the world…as we seek Christ’s wisdom in becoming faithful stewards of God’s good gifts, that enable us to do all that we can with the resources available to us, to love our neighbors as ourselves…all of our neighbors….all of creation…
The Creation Collect of the Day
Grant us, Creator God, to put wealth to use in relieving the suffering of others; so that we might hold fast to the love that endures; through Jesus Christ the Wisdom of Creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
I invite you now, in this time of reflection as I play a hymn, entitled, Hear our prayer O Lord, to pray and seek Christ’s wisdom, in discerning what it means for you to be a faithful steward of God’s good gifts…keeping in mind…that stewardship is more than managing money and resources – it is practicing justice, mercy, and radical welcome in Christ’s name… (The Deaconess Community)
Prayer/hymn: (LEVS II) 249 - Hear our prayer O Lord
Hear our prayer, O Lord,
Hear our prayer, O Lord;
Incline Thine ear to us,
And grant us Thy peace.
***Image: Choose Peace (Inspirivity)